Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-281-1503: Stauffer Chemical Company; Morrisville, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chrostek, Walter J. ; Murphy, Denise C.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for phosphorus-pentasulfide (1314803), hydrogen-sulfide (7783064), phosphoric-acid (7664382), hydrochloric-acid (7647010), arsenic (7440382), sodium-acid-pyrophosphate (7758169) (SAP), and chlorinated trisodium-phosphate (56802994) (TSP) at Stauffer Chemical Company (SIC-2819), Morrisville, Pennsylvania in July and October, 1982. The survey was requested by the local union due to employees reporting symptoms such as skin rash, eye and respiratory irritation, and headaches. Medical questionnaires were administered to 64 workers. Interviews with 12 employees were conducted. All arsenic, phosphoric-acid and hydrochloric-acid concentrations were below the limits of detection. Hydrogen-sulfide was detected, but at concentrations below evaluation criteria. SAP and TSP concentrations averaged 2.9 and 2.7 milligrams per cubic meter, respectively. There are no current Federal standards for either compound. No serious health problems were detected. Eleven workers reported shortness of breath and nine reported burns from splashed chemicals or welding. The authors conclude that exposures to SAP and TSP may be sufficient to cause irritation and shortness of breath. They recommend improving housekeeping in the TSP and SAP areas and establishing a program of maintenance for the duct work and packaging machine in the TSP and SAP areas. Employees should regularly use personal protective equipment, especially for the eyes and skin.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Arsenic Chemistry Headache Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Phosphoric Acids Safety Skin Toxicology

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Chemical-processing Chlorinated Trisodium Phosphate Hazards-Unconfirmed Headaches HETA-82-281-1503 Hydrogen Sulfide Industrial Inorganic Chemicals NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 3 Phosphates Phosphoric Acid Phosphorus Pentasulfide Protective-equipment Rashes Respiratory Problems Skin And Eye Irritation Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA822811503
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  17 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Szabo, William
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00144837
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-208296
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 82-281-1503, 1984 Sep ; :1-16
• CAS Registry Number:
  Phosphorus pentasulfide (CAS RN 1314-80-3) ; Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4) ; Phosphoric acid (CAS RN 7664-38-2) ; Hydrochloric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7647-01-0) ; Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Disodium Pyrophosphate (CAS RN 7758-16-9) ; Chlorinated Trisodium Phosphate (CAS RN 56802-99-4)
• Editor(s):
  McElroy, Nanci
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2819 - Industrial inorganic chemicals, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:48f55990fdd98169dcd03835d649ff828ac4ac62bc856bc94c6de5519f63a857a8fb07c913cf8bb45943f178ee9b580b2d4dd018dc9ebb69173126bd9493d070
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172758/cdc_172758_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.74 MB ]